With diversified developments of information platforms, previously clearly distinguished product definitions of three dominant platforms namely computers (including desktop computers, laptop computers and portable pads), televisions and mobile handsets have gradually obscured under the trends of platform smartening and media information streaming. In response to the needs of data exchange and data synchronization across different platforms as well as various operating systems (e.g., iOS, Blackberry OS, Android and Windows), a variety of cross-platform applications are derived.
A conventional transmission apparatus connects two electronic devices in a way that a window operation associated with the two electronic devices can be implemented through firmware and software means. However, in a conventional system structure, data exchange or update can only be performed given that display devices connected or designated to the two electronic devices are turned on. In other words, a user is required to at the same time monitor two display images, implying that a distance between the two connected electronic devices is limited. Further, certain portable electronic devices (e.g., mobile handsets and portable pads) are equipped with a smaller-sized display device that makes viewing or editing operations unfavorable.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional transmission apparatus connecting an electronic device A and an electronic device B. The conventional transmission apparatus is generally implemented in form of a transmission line. As shown in FIG. 1, display devices designated to the electronic devices A and B are at the same time turned on during a file sharing operation between the electronic devices A and B via a transmission line. A user needs to at the same time monitor images of the two display devices in order to operate functions such as copying-and-pasting and dragging-and-dropping. Further, results of executed application programs at the electronic devices A and B can only be presented on the images of respective display devices.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a remote desktop operation between the electronic devices A and B via a transmission line. More specifically, at the electronic device A, an application program is executed for continuously capturing desktop snapshots in a frame buffer of a display card. The captured snapshots are compressed or processed by another mechanism for reducing a data amount, transmitted to the electronic device B, received by an application program at the electronic device B, decompressed, and then presented on a display image. The above conventional solution suffers from certain setbacks. For example, if an output results from a particular program (e.g., video playback software) cannot be intercepted or if data is lost, a program compatibility complication is incurred. For another example, when the display device of the electronic device is a small-sized display as such in a mobile handset or a portable pad, the intercepted image data may render unsatisfactory image quality when displayed at a larger-sized display device of the other electronic device.